HEEJO KIM
“The thick and curvy figures in my oil paintings look clay-like, still raw, but also weightless, able to move freely. They take up most of the canvas, crowded even while isolated. They do not look directly at the viewer. They loom while drawing away. Perhaps they are misfits, but they express their feelings naturally, not caring who will see them. What types of feelings are they showing? Apathy? Boredom? Loneliness? Fear? Powerlessness? Such feelings are not easy to express in real life without being unduly conscious of others. However, their unselfconscious vulnerability seems brave to me ...
Growing up in Seoul, I felt there was a heaviness to belonging. Korea is a society full of heated competition and yet has prevalent gender discrimination. To fail is to become a burden. To be female means standing a few steps behind from the starting line. In this society, I have become full of self-deprecation. Blaming and doubting myself is the easiest way to understand every unfair situation, but this leads me to think of myself as a misfit. “Maybe this place is not for me, where should I go?” By painting these figures, I am building up my own space. The figures I paint are both finding and protecting their identities, as I describe the space in which they exist, and seek to expand it. I hope they can find a space where they can stay comfortably, a home just for them."
- Heejo Kim, Artist Statement
Heejo Kim (b. 1995, Seoul, South Korea) received an MFA from the LeRoy E. Hoffberger School of Painting at Maryland Institute College of Art. She has exhibited in the United States and Korea, including C. Grimaldis Gallery (Baltimore, MD), The Peale Museum (Baltimore, MD), Uprise Art Gallery (New York, NY), Art Miami (Miami, FL), and Art Palm Beach (Palm Beach, FL). Kim is currently based in Baltimore, MD.
Heejo Kim, Red Booth, 2022, oil on canvas, 93 x 63 inches